# SEVERELY damaged hair!! Needs protein



## RubberDuckee (Aug 19, 2013)

I'm new &amp; this is my first post. I'm a natural blonde, been dying it dark/black for a couple years. I bleached it last night twice with 40 vol to go back to blonde. 

My hair is about down to my chest, from the ear down it's beyond fried. I can NOT comb it, not with a wide tooth comb, no matter how gentle I am. If I even try to run my fingers through a piece it will end in a giant hair ball falling off. SO stringy &amp; thin that it sticks together, so in order for me to dry it I have to spend 45 minutes gently separating the pieces. 

It's just so thin &amp; fragile that I know it needs protein, I've gathered all the keratin &amp; ceramide products I could find &amp; they've helped a lot! But it's still a long way to go...

Plus it's also a huge frizzy mess, super dry. 

Anywho....how can I put the protein back into it??

I will do anything I can to avoid cutting it. I've repaired it a great deal already so I think I can make it normal again if I try  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />


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## amygab1126 (Aug 19, 2013)

I know you mentioned protein, but I'll tell you this anyway: I fried the hell out of my hair a 8 years ago when it took me a few tries to get my highlights right. The last few inches on the bleached ends looked thin and wavy and broken (I'm assuming this is something close to what you're dealing with). I started rubbing a little olive oil between my palms and distributing that throughout my hair every day after blow-drying, and it made a HUGE difference. I still do it daily now. If you heat-style, it'll never make it look greasy. And it helps with shine a thousand times more than those silicone-based anti-frizz products do.


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## beccakuma (Aug 28, 2013)

Dont overdo it with the protein  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Biolage has a wonderful new line.. Fiberstrong and keradose. Sounds like the fiberstong would really do you a wrold of good  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />


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## memekeeley (Aug 29, 2013)

I would really recommend Coconut Oil!

I used to straighten my hair everyday for around 5 years. It was immensly damaged. I began to do a at home remedy deep conditioner of coconut oil, honey and olive oil every time i washed my hair.

A few months passed and my hair gradually became healthier.


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## MerriCat738 (Aug 30, 2013)

If your hair is so damaged that it's breaking off then no amount of protein or any other haircare product for that matter is going to do any good.  I regret to tell you that your only option is to cut off the areas where it is breaking.  Your hair is so damaged that the keratin bonds are actually broken.  There is simply no product out there that can repair these bonds. 

Leave the bleaching and high lift color to the professionals, a lot of women have ruined their hair with these at home lightening kits, IMHO they should be withdrawn from the market.  These bleaches contain very strong alkaline ingredients and can cause serious damage to the hair if you don't know how to use them correctly.


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## perlanga (Sep 1, 2013)

Im sorry to hear about your hair. I would cut off as much as your comfortable with then work on repairing whats left of your length.


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## Kolly (Sep 2, 2013)

This is a rough situation. I'm going to have to agree that you're going to need to trim off as much as you can. You will have to keep an eye out for your ends too to make sure they don't begin to split and make your hair even worse.


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## lissa1307 (Sep 11, 2013)

i was in the same boat last year, did pink highlights to black to red to blonde then back to my natural brunette...what i dis was trim off the very worst of the ends. i understand you have a good majority damaged, but even an inch off will help. stop shampoo immediately unless you have a particularly greasy day, i only shampoo once every cpl of weeks. rinse with cool water daily and condition. you don't need any fancy conditioners. i use dove's intensive and suave for damaged as a combo daily, be generous and let it sit on your hair for a min of 5 mins. once a week use aussie's 3 minute miracle or derm organics hair masque. and to help with the breakage during brushing use dove's nourishing oil treatment spray. also do minimal styling, try not to use hair ties, use jaw clip if you need to pull your hair up. look up protective styling...it might not be the prettiest stuff but in a few months your hair will be a LOT better. also trim your hair a little each month because you cannot repair damage with any miracle cream, but you can make it less brittle until you can grow it out.


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## LaurenElle (Sep 29, 2013)

I think you need moisture than protein. ORS has a good deep conditioner, it works really well and smells like lemons. I also agree with trimming a bit off.


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## angismith (Sep 29, 2013)

I did something similar to this and just kept building up the damaging over the years. Eventually, I had my hair dyed to its original color and cut off as much as my heart could stand. Like the ladies here have said, there is nothing you can really do at this point to the hair that is so badly damaged. What does help is to shampoo as little as possible to keep from removing the good oils. Use a really good conditioner. I actually use mine BEFORE I shampoo, then shampoo and condition again. Then, I use a GOOD leave-in conditioner on the ends that are so bad. And when I saw GOOD, I do mean expensive. You can go to fragrancenet.com or HairCareChoices.com and find some excellent products. No ONE product is going to do what you need. And if you do need to use heat styling, make sure to use a thermal heat protection product. Now that my hair is back in shape (which has taken months and months), I just had my hair professional highlighted with colors that suit my hair color and are not as harsh as bleaching. It costs a little more, but you will spend that much on the money you waste trying to do it cheaper and then straightening out the damage. Hope this helps.


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## lilsxkitten (Sep 29, 2013)

Redkin Antisnap was one of my favorite products when my hair was being heavily processed


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## birdiebijou (Sep 29, 2013)

I'll second the coconut oil. I use it about once a week as an overnight treatment (comb in and put up hair, wash it out next morning) and its made a huge difference in my hair's strength and shine. Redken products are also great - Antisnap or the diamond oil line.


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## melissakecken (Sep 30, 2013)

Go to a salon that does REDKEN CHEMISTRY SYSTEM!! They are GREAT and they will use the right one for your hair!! It is not expensive either!! THIS IS YOUR BEST BET!! Also TRY WEN 613, its awesome!!


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## Cendrillon (Oct 1, 2013)

I also agree be careful too much protein will make you hair dry and brittle. I'm sorry but you can't repair hair. 

Here's a few tips

- Do not do too much and leave your hair alone.

- Try to stretch your washes

- Avoid mechanical damage by any cost: no combing hair wet, put it up with non damaging hair toys, like clips and hair sticks, put it up when you sleep.

- Do not put any heat on your hair

- Coconut oil is proven to reduce protein lost when you wash your hair. Put it on your length at least an hour before washing

- If you do not want to cut too much now, try to maintain your lenght for a year. Cut about half an inch with good hair cissors a month.

And please just do not do the mistake of trying too much stuff, put it up with spin pins most days and forget about it. You may want to buy a tangle teezer for combing it's a life saver.


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## Narmu (Oct 13, 2013)

hey memekeeley, u mentioned sumthng abt deep conditioner of hair oil, honey and olive oil ryt??  did u mix all the three n applied it? can u share it wit us...I m in need of it..


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## athenatree (Oct 15, 2013)

I second Coconut oil, I use it all the time for my hair and love the way it feels after I use it.  Just be careful and don't apply too much!  I have done so and have actually experienced an opposite effect - my hair came out really dry.  From what I have heard with any hair product that contains protein, if you overuse it, it will cause dry hair.


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